THE COMEBACK.

Hi guys... Been a while!

Since we last spoke my injury has been about as bad as could have been expected (ie:WorseCaseScenario!)

After a few stagnant months where I had no strength gains/progression with my knee no matter howmuch or hard I rehabed it, the decision was made to operate on it for a second time. With months of getting nowhere, I pretty much "downed tools" with regard to keep you updated as I was stuggling myself just to try and stay possitive.

This was in May 09 and they were specifically worried about the meniscus cartilage they had repaired in the 1st operation. When the operation took place their fears were confirmed and the cartilage they had tried to save was again torn. I had been told that if this was the case they would just remove all my meniscus cartilage. This means initially, functionally my joint should be good, but with the two bone ends rubbing together with no shock absorbtion, arthritis is no far away. Anyway, lucky me, my top surgeon managed to only remove 1/2 my cartilage to save me something to help my knee, obviously I was pretty happy with this!

By this stage all timelines for my recovery where out the window and it not a question of when I recover, more if I recover. For the 1st time I asked my Physio is everything goes as well as possible (perfectCaseScenario) would I be able to vault again? I had avoided this question for long enough as I didn't really want to heaar the answer. In the past no matter how bad the situation he has always told me I would be back. This time the advice was "You could try to learn to vault of the other leg" bearing in mind this is like asking a top cricketer/pitcher to bowl with his other arm! And I'm no spring chicken these days!

Basically there is a chance I could vault again, but I have been advised it could be a very stupid decision as my knee is going to deteriorate early anyway without this extra stress from high level training/competing. Added to this the general risk of vaulting/re-injure and apparently I would be nuts to do it (I have considered it) and I should focus more on being able to be "recreationaly active" in later life.

I had to cut back my SSA work as everytime I risked damge to my knee as I could not just stand there and struggled not to be active in the sessions. It has been 3 months since the second operation and things (including my mood) have improved since. Strength gains pushed throught the previous plateau within a month and I have been allowed to start min-squats for the 1st time in a year, a treat! I will try not to put any deadlines on recovery as over the last year these have been getting put back and back.

For a large part of the year I had the anniversary of the accident August 9th as a goal to be running/jogging by this date and it helped keep me going. However is this date got closer it turned into a decision date. It came a week or two ago and I was not even close to being able to run, and on this date I decided to accept it and officially RETIRE FROM COMPETITIVE POLEVAULT. I'm sure this is not a big deal for anyone else and I know things could be worse, I'm more just getting it down in black and white so it is more real. I thought some people should know and if your one of the many who has supported me in this tough year I really do thank you for it (you know who you are).

Anyway on a lighter note I am going to try and work with what I've got, wheelchair basketball, volleyball(nojumping), swimming, snooker, FT top coach, underwear model ;) sniper are all potential options for me.

I have spent my usual athletics summer in the states this year and return at the end of this month...

we will see what happens??

Thnks again for all you support, I wil again try and support you in all your sporting and fitness goals

THE SPEED FREAK

STRONG MIND, STRONG BODY.

Afternoon all,

Early start to the day, up and out by 6.30am, going early training? Early coaching? Nope, up to Windsor and the Princess Margret Hospital for an MRI on my lovely (slightly mis-shaped) knee.

An improtant day, well the results in a few days are more important!
Just another "Fun" outing since my freak accident on August 9th. The local newspaper ran an update on my knee this week (must be a slow week for news) and I thought I'd pass on the story and keep you guys updated. Here's a few bits...

Walker fights back from the brink

Dislocated kneecap, torn knee ligaments, season over. Adam Walker's athletics future was looking pretty bleak as he lay in agony on the pole vault runway at Eton.
Foremost in Walker's mind is trying to return his knee to full working order. A full 15 weeks after it happened, he is coming to terms with just how badly the joint is and is finding it as much a mental battle as it is physical.

"I have been having two to three hours a day rehab and now the injured leg is as strong as the other one. My quads are stronger than they were before the accident.

The injury has left Walker's knee severely weakened, and its vulnerability was highlighted last week when he slipped slightly on a wet floor and damaged his anterior cruciate ligament - the front ligament in the knee.

"I'm so gutted," he says. "I have been really careful but it looks like I have now overstretched or partially torn the ACL. It has put me back about three weeks to a month and my limp is back.

"You can't fix it quickly which is frustrating and there's no chance of me having an indoor season now. I'd be more upbeat if I thought I could be jumping by the time of the outdoor season. It's 15 weeks since I did it now. For 11 weeks it was improving so quickly, getting better day by day. But the thought has popped into my head: 'What if I don't get better?'"

Walker is keen to avoid the fate of one of his friends, who suffered a career-ending injury at the same venue eight years ago and still limps.

But he can at least see a silver lining.
"I didn't land on my head so I am happy about that but they thought I had broken my leg, that my tibia had snapped. I was happy to see there was no blood."

It was an unhappy end to what had been Walker's best season, setting a new personal best of 4.65m in Dublin and also becoming the Sussex senior champion. He intends to return to the Irish capital, believing the size of the competition and the crowds helped him reach that PB.

"I would find it a lot easier to retire after five metres," he admits.

"To clear that is a question of technique and belief. I cleared 4.65 in Dublin and thought, 'Brilliant, I must have scraped it'. But my coach said I did it easily, so I had a pop at 4.75 and in three attempts I got lots of height but came down on the bar."


Anyway guys, as I lay inside the MRI tunnel this morning (a cross between a building site and standing next to a music speaker experience) I thought, this is rubbish & wondered why I didn't feel worse? Sure I have bad days & I'm angry about the knee, but mentally I'm positive, working round the problem and focusing on getting it better. Slowly the body is getting the idea and catching up! Have to mention helping "mini-me" sportspeople is a massive help aswell! Hopefully YOU can avoid some of the injuries that I have had and learn from my mistakes. The mind is the most powerful Sports Performance tool...

"BECOME STRONG IN MIND & THE BODY WILL FOLLOW"

Adam Walker
THE SPEED FREAK

PS: IF YOU WANNA CHECK OUT THE FULL STORY ALONG WITH SAD PHOTO'S OF ME! HERE IS THE LINK BELOW (copu & paste it into your browser).
http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/crawley/sport/Walker-fights-brink/article-503354-detail/article.html
LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR DOING IN YOUR SPORTS AND ABOUT ANY INJURY WORRIES??

YOUNGER & FASTER WILKO!

Morning all!

With the Autumn Rugby Union Internationals fully underway, you can't go a weekend without viewing some quality rugby and Speed to match!

One who tends to stand out is The younger faster version of Jonny Wilkinson... DAN CIPRIANI !

Wilkinson's injuries are the cost of too much contact. But Cipriani is still young, developing, bigger, stronger and FASTER than Wilkinson already! A RUGBY SPEED FREAK!

This is not luck though. Like SPORT SPEED ACADEMY, Dan Cipriani identified weaknesses and did something about it!
When Dan joined Wasps he commented:

“Wasps have a gym culture so I quickly got big and strong — but I was convinced I needed to work on my speed. So I started working with Margot Wells — she’s the wife of former Olympic gold medal sprinter Allan — and I pay her out of my own pocket!"

Cipriani who comes from Croydon the same stomping ground that produced a TRUE SPEED FREAK in Paul Sackey. Cipriani gained a Rugby scholorsip from Whitgift school and hasn't looked back.

In his time there I was lucky enough to be at the school and taught him in disciplines such as Water Polo and Basketball. Sadly no Rugby speed work back then! Anyway, it was Paul Sackey who started to pay Margot £400 a month to help his speed six years ago. Sackey is always quick to credit Wells for her part in turning him into an international rugby player. As a young lad joining Wasps, Dan started his regular Speed sessions with Margot off his own back and has also paid tribute to the help she has given him.

So what does she do??

She only gets 45 minutes, twice a week, to make a difference to these blokes. She needs discipline and hasn't got time for them to turn up and muck about! She maintains she fuels their talent in a step-by-step manner. The first thing she did was to teach him how to run properly, immediately making Dan run faster. She then looked at his body to find out where are all the weaknesses? Then she starts to fix them.

SIMPLE.

Personally physical mistakes and weaknesses jump out to me too and I can appriciate and understand exactly how and why she does what she does. You need a structured system to follow and then you can reap the rewards when you take your skills onto the pitch! I only get 60 minutes once a week at my Academy at still get results!

Still with all this (as I have found in Polevault) you cannot avoid the "Freak" injuries and Cipriani suffered a fractured dislocated ankle injury in May. OUCH! Wilkinson dislocated his knee like me in September, and this is with us all being in good condition for our sport. Mmust be the season for it!

Expected to be out untill the new year, Dan has burst back in time for the Autumn internationals! His speed coach reckons he is faster than before he got injured, so it is looking good for England. Margot currently looks after 28 rugby players and says that she is unable to take anybody else on board. In the past (as all good speed coaches should!) she has also worked with swimmers, fencers and coached a variety of team sports.

SPORT SPEED IS ESSENTIAL & I LOVE IT!

I'll leave you with some great words that we apply daily at SPORT SPEED ACADEMY...

“You can’t tackle what you can’t catch.” Margot Wells

GET FAST. WIN MORE.

Adam Walker BSc PGCE CSCS YCS
www.SportSpeedAcademy.com
www.TheSpeedFreak.blogspot.com

THE SPEED FREAK

PS: Check out this Key Exercise to eliminate a massive weakness on the SPEED FREAK Channel... AdamWalkerPro on YouTube, Subscribe for free now!

SPEEDY INJURY! SPEEDY RECOVERY??

Morning all,

Its been a rough few days recently, knee has been having a tough time since dislocating my patella 8 weeks ago at the UK Athletics Challenge final @ Eton.
The “FREAK” accident seemed to be getting better as fast as it happened! If you didn’t hear, I’ll give you a quick recap from what the papers reported:

ADAM Walker admits his season is over after dislocating his knee in testing conditions at the UK Challenge Final in Eton.The Crawley Athletic Club pole vaulter suffered the freak accident when going for his second attempt at 4.46m in the Thames Valley Athletics Stadium.
Walker, the Sussex senior champion, had only been a late call-up to the event after another athlete dropped out, but still managed to finish fourth and pocketed £100 prize money.
But the 28-year-old was left with mixed emotions as he was taken to hospital following the accident and will not be able to compete for the rest of the season.
I am so happy with my best result of fourth in the UK, but it cost me a knee and is still swelling," said Walker.
"I'm angry that the organisers made us vault in the dangerous conditions and didn't move it indoors or call it off.
"Last time I vaulted there about eight years ago, another competition was called off after a friend of mine had a career ending injury in dangerous conditions. He never vaulted again and still limps now."

Walker's injury compounded a miserable weekend for him which began on Friday night when his ankle swelled because of an insect bite picked up at a midweek meeting in Woking.
Having been told he had an infection, he was prescribed antibiotics to reduce the swelling and made it to Eton only to find the rain had left standing water on the pole vault run-up.
The competitors were told the event would not be moved indoors and Walker had to make the best of the conditions, clearing 4.16m and 4.31m to put him in fifth place.
With conditions worsening, Walker went for 4.46m but on his second attempt at the new height, it all went wrong.

"I came flying in, puddles splashing, struggling to grip the pole, my take-off foot was too close, and although it didn't feel right I tried to vault," he said.
"But my foot slipped from under me, I tried to grip the pole but my top hand slipped off the pole and I ended up crumpled in the box, screaming and gripping my knee.
"It's a bit of a blur. The pain was excruciating, as my patella (knee-cap) was ripped off and leg had been hyper-extended. I thought I was going to see bone sticking through so I was initially relieved."

Walker's condition has improved in the last few days and an x-ray has shown no tears to any of the major ligaments or tendons and no floating bone fragments.
He is now recuperating in San Francisco although his target of clearing five metres (IRISH RECORD) now looks a long way off.Horrible to read that again! Anyway, as I mentioned my recovery was initially so rapid, I’d had the best season of my career and a lifetime best height to boot. Even though I’d had my left kneecap ripped off (ouch!) I was in good spirits and Soo motivated to crack on and get it sorted, I attacked the rehab with force!
The PAIN involved was a shock to me, but with my Good friend and long term physio John Allen reassuring me I had to do it and the pain was necessary I didn’t look back. The physio’s I have always used are Matthews & Allen, one is the Head physio for the Wimbledon tennis Championships every year and the other is in charge of the majority of the UK Athletics teams at major championships (I had to wait for him to get back from Beijing to help me out!.

My strength gains were so quick it was really motivating how quick I was recovering. People would be shocked when they saw my progress and I told them I was only off crutches a week ago! Obviously I’m all about speed so I was loving it. However, flexibility has not been so good in my knee ( and the fact it still doesn’t look too hot!) and it stiffens up reducing the ROM (Range Of Movement) quickly if I neglect it.

So, here we are today 8 weeks later and I’m still sitting here writing this with an ice pack on my knee! Since the incident my knee has been able to fry an egg on it, its so hot and inflamed, with a bad weekend where it swelled up so I could not do any rehab except ice it constantly for two days and eat Anit-Inflamatories like smarties!

I’d over done it a tad, it’s a fine line between doing as much as possible to help it and over doing it and ruining your work!
OVER-TRAINING, you put just too much demand on your body and don’t respect the principle of rest and recovery, and you’r body will make you rest either through INJURY or SWELLING up to the size of a coconut knee and put you out of the game!

Hey my SPEED FREAKS, You have been warned! Take it from someone who knows and is still confined to running in the swimming pool!

Whats the worst injury you’ve had or known a friend experience?? Let me know, I hope you haven’t experience much… Unfortunately I doubt that!??

What’s yours??

Yours in Sport & Speed,

Adam Walker BSc PGCE CSCS

PS: Imagine 3 hours taken out of every day for 8 weeks (and counting) for REHAB, Strengthening, flexibility and Hydro sessions in the pool! FUN.

Put in the work PRE-HAB before an injury occurs, any problems, help needed gimme a shout.THE SPEED FREAK